The rise of luxury apartments

ISABELLE FRASER
LONDON- The next wave of luxury property developments will be twinned with high-end hotels, due to the rise of the "bleisure" market, the mixing of business and leisure.A living room in One Nine Elms, London, where prices start from £1.2m for a one-bedroom flat.

Apartment blocks in London including One Hyde Park, backed by the Mandarin Oriental, One Nine Elms, which is serviced by Wanda Vista Hotel, and Bulgari Residences, carry on average a 30pc premium over comparable unbranded flats, according to new research by CBRE.

Residents of One Hyde Park, can use room service and concierge services of the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Apartments in the black carry a 37pc premium on properties in the surrounding area. A one-bedroom apartment at One Nine Elms starts at £1.2m.

Developers are seeking to add value and exclusive features to luxury apartments at a time when some properties in central London have had their prices slashed by 20pc, and while a glut of them are due to come on to the market: in the next three years there are around 3,500 such serviced apartments in the pipeline, according to JLL.

One Nine Elms, serviced by the Wanda Vista hotel

40pc of these will be in London, with regional hubs such as Manchester and Edinburgh also building more of these branded, serviced apartments.

Max Thorne, of JLL, said: “Serviced apartment operators are really starting to capture the trend for travellers looking for a ‘home from home’ with flexible work spaces, and mixed-use social spaces and food and beverage services."

Jennet Siebrits, of CBRE, said: "This branding of residences is already a popular practice internationally, with more than half of all such developments are located in the US, with Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons dominating the trend."

Roarie Scarisbrick, partner at independent buying agent Property Vision, said: “It's not an easy market for these developers. There is a monumental pipeline of new developments coming up in London, of mixed quality, and the developers are having to work hard to stand out to the depleted supply of foreign buyers."

He added: “The same model has been applied to the larger, more peripheral schemes, and I have no doubt that these will stand out to the foreign buyers who are reassured by brands."